Barratt reports bumper sales as Help to Buy kicks in
Britain's largest housebuilder, Barratt Developments, has reported a whopping 71 per cent rise in forward sales.
The company also reported a 37 per cent rise in reservations as the government's controversial Help to Buy scheme continues to stoke up consumer demand.
Mark Clare group chief executive, commented:
As a result of the continued recovery of the housing market across all regions and our £3.1 billion investment in new land over the last four years, we have been able to increase materially the number of new homes being built and our profitability.
Our disciplined approach to running the business is delivering significant improvements across all key financial metrics and with forward sales of over £1.2 billion, we are well placed for FY14 and beyond.
Barratt said that 29 per cent of total completions used the Help to Buy scheme in the last six months. In the wake of rising demand the company's average selling price has risen by almost 14 per cent to £211,000.